Sheila Jackson Lee supports GOP proposal to assess border security

A veteran Democrat from Houston serving on the House Committee on Homeland Security is crossing party lines to support Republican-sponsored legislation to create a yardstick for security along the Southwest Border.

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee says her move will help win the comprehensive immigration reform that she also supports.

Jackson Lee has joined forces with Rep. Michael McCaul, a Republican from Austin, and Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican from San Antonio, to co-sponsor the measure.

“I see this as a neutral, non-political issue that ties the necessity of security for the homeland with comprehensive immigration reform,” says Jackson Lee, a long time member of the House Committee on Homeland Security who was elected to Congress in 1994. “I believe this legislation is a fair partnership for getting immigration reform.”

Jackson Lee vowed to work with GOP counterparts in the House, including McCaul, chairman of the House homeland security panel.

“I want to see border security dealt with in a positive way,” Jackson Lee said. “We can work together to get things done on both border security and immigration reform. It’s like eating ice cream and having a great piece of pie at the same time.”

McCaul said he hoped his committee would act on the border metrics legislation sometime in May.

McCaul said the bill addresses the skepticism of those who “have seen that promises of border security coupled with immigration reform have gone unfulfilled in the past.”

Not all Texans agree. Congressman Pete Gallego, a Democrat from San Antonio, is questioning the practicality of requiring increased federal security measures while Customs and Border Patrol is under threat of furloughs and across-the-board budget cuts.

“The math doesn’t add up,” said Gallego, whose congressional district includes 800 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. “You can’t reduce border wait times and apprehend more people with fewer employees and less money. Those who supported sequestration should see that.”